New York State Housing Market Posts Solid October; 4Q Likely to See Slowdown Following Superstorm Sandy

ALBANY, NY--(Marketwire - Nov 19, 2012) - The New York State housing market posted gains in closed sales, pending sales and median sales price in October compared to a year ago. Sales of existing single-family homes, condo and co-op transactions increased by 4.3 percent compared to last October, while pending sales were up 18 percent and the median sales price rose by 2 percent, according to the housing market report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS®.

"Through October, the New York State housing market made solid progress and our outlook was for increased sales and median sales price growth trends to continue," said Duncan R. MacKenzie, NYSAR CEO. "However, following Superstorm Sandy, the massive housing markets in the federally declared disaster areas were essentially put on hold. We anticipate that the devastation wrought by the storm will affect the housing market in those areas for many months to come."

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by the storm, and we encourage state and federal lawmakers to do everything possible to initiate and sustain a wide-ranging recovery effort," MacKenzie said.

The October market posted 7,839 closed sales, up 4.3 percent from the October 2011 total of 7,518. Year-to-date (Jan. 1 to Oct. 31) closed sales reached 77,383 at the end of October, an increase of 6.6 percent from last year.

The statewide median sales price reached $209,000, an increase of 2 percent compared to the October 2011 median of $205,000. This represents the fifth consecutive month of increases over last year. The year-to-date (Jan. 1 to Oct. 31) median of $213,000 was 0.9-percent behind the $215,000 median in 2011.

Pending sales jumped 18.1 percent to 8,517 in October 2012 compared to 7,211 in October 2011. October 2012 marked 12 consecutive months of pending sales gains. The year-to-date (Jan. 1 to Oct. 31) pending sales total of 87,918 is 14.7-percent higher than the 76,640 pending sales during the same period last year.

The months supply of inventory continued to trend toward a more balanced market, dropping 29.8 percent in October to 10.6 months supply. It stood at 15.1 months in October 2011. A 6 month to 6.5 month supply is considered to be a balanced market. Inventory stood at 88,832 units in October 2012, a decrease of 20.6 percent compared to October 2011.

Editor's Note: All data is compiled from multiple listing services in the state of New York and the data now include townhomes and condominiums in addition to existing single-family homes.

The New York State Association of REALTORS® is a not-for-profit trade organization representing more than 47,000 of New York State's real estate professionals. The term REALTOR® is a registered trademark, which identifies real estate professionals who subscribe to a strict code of ethics as members of the National Association of REALTORS®. These REALTORS® are also members of the New York State Association of REALTORS® as well as their local board or association of REALTORS®.